Quote:
Originally Posted by Habsfan09
Care to explain?
That it isn't about "growing the economy" which is meaningless concept anyway.
Mostly the benefits of having a low population density and stable population numbers and shared culture. There is a place in society for everyone and people treat each other with respect. Plenty of unused land, very low crime, space in school for my kids in a class where everyone has the same first language and who will still be there in 5 years time. Where my wife gets 6 years maternity leave (2 kids x 3 years) before getting her old job back and places for the kids in kindergarten because a society that doesn't solve its problems with an immigration treadmill has to put families and children first and make that possible (there is also a huge difference in terms of ante-natal care between Slovakia and the UK), affordable housing.
I said that it's not about money, but it's worth pointing out that a lot of what I describe above are currently available in the UK to the very richest, just by solving a series of problems with money (particularly buying property in the right places, self-funding maternity leave, paying for private medical care etc.). The question is how to deliver those valued things to the rest of the population - a lot of what I write seemed achievable to the post-war generation.
A lot of that could be implemented in the UK too even as a member of the EU (after all, Slovakia is a member), but migration can't be controlled and that's a big part of the instability and a driver for population density increase.
Even after Brexit you still have a long way to go. So let's say in this new spirit of independence and self-sufficiency you decide to stop free-rolling off poor countries' education systems and open enough places on courses to train the doctors and nurses required by and from your own population. It would take years for any significant number of these graduates to start filling places required so as to remove the need to keep bringing new immigrants. The NHS will still need Polish and Indian doctors for years and years after Brexit, even if it suddenly becomes a political priority to train your own population for the skilled jobs and pay them properly for the unskilled jobs - and with the current politicians on both sides of the debate that looks unlikely.
Brexit just means you take back control, you still have to then argue for the vision of Britain you want, but the government has a free hand to implement it for you and can no longer make excuses.
And btw I'm not saying Slovakia is better overall, particularly for the lowest paid, just the experience of swapping a middle-class life in the UK for one in Slovakia makes one think pretty differently to the talking heads on TV.
Last edited by LektorAJ; 06-21-2016 at 02:18 PM.